Honour: Confessions
of a Mumbai Courtesan

The play uses gripping theatre to examine generational sex trade

By Byron Toben

Teesri Duniya has done it again. The Montreal-based theatre group which examines social issues “one play at a time” has brought the acclaimed performer Dipti Mehta here for a short run of her solo work Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan.

In dance and script, Ms Mehta turns on a dime to portray seven characters in this saga of a 16-year-old-girl, Rani, brought up in the world of Mumbai brothels.

Image: Jessica Mentis

She effortlessly morphs into her mother, a eunuch, a pimp, an elderly customer, a priest and even the princess Draupadi from the Indian epic, Mahabharata.

Teesri Duniya... examines social issues “one play at a time…

That her mother was also a prostitute and that there seems no way for her to otherwise earn a living reminded me of the many studies on how children born into welfare families are oft destined to head welfare families of their own.

Image: Alex Waterhouse

Despite the seriousness of the subject, Ms Mehta manages to inject a bit of humour into the show.

Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan has been presented by her in Canada and in the USA where she now resides, and she hopes to take it to India, Germany and other European ports of call.

Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan
At the MAI until October 6
514 848-0238
teesriduniyatheatre.com

Feature image: Jessica Mentis

Read more articles from Byron Toben

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.